Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Please "Adopt" us for the Holidays




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Please consider the gift of life and hope to our rescued animals this holiday season!
Years ago I "adopted" a whale and the group that was protecting them sent me photos and updates, I really looked forward to hearing about where "my" whale had been seen, how far he had traveled. It was fun and I learned all about whales. Now we have blogs and internet to help us learn about wild animals and the joys of supporting such efforts :)


Adoption is a great option for those who would like to support our efforts...We have released 5 sloths to date and several this past year. Each sloth that comes into our program is here for a reason: an injury, abandoned, fell from a tree, fights, burns and mistreated by humans.


All of them have to be evaluated by our veterinarian, fed and cared for.


This can add up and we are looking for support for our various sloths.


I will give you some good news!! We have donations for Millie and Georgie enclosures, and will begin these in Jan. Thank you!!




Adoption certificates will be sent along with a photo of your favorite sloth,


Twili, Millie, Milo and Georgie. (I finally found a nice certificate-one that I can print up here...)


Eight years ago we began accepting toucans in need, and we have become known for the excellent work we do recovering these beautiful birds. We have had to say no to some animals, but we will never say no to the toucans. Currently we have 35 in our care. We are setting up a breeding program for release, and have been successful in reproducing the Emerald Toucanets.
Owl Fund! Please do an office pool, or a challenge for support, match the donation, for our 15 owls. We have to purchase from a poultry farm 700 chicks a month to feed them along with supplementing them with rats and mice that we breed here. Some of the most beautiful raptors in Costa Rica, and not many rescue centers accept these owls. We receive owl babies since they are very difficult to raise, and every adult owl that has come into the program has come with severe injuries that require extensive orthopedic surgeries and a long recovery process.


Many of you contributed to Isadora Spider monkey's enclosure and I can tell you that she is so happy and appreciative of her new space. Thank You!! She needs constant food since she is so High Energy, to put it frankly, she eats like a horse! Much of the fruit that we purchase weekly goes to her, little miss piggy. She is doing great and is a joy, loves to visit when we do tours and always shows off her acrobatic skills. Adopting Issy would help us keep up the fruit supply!


Jou Jou is just like Issy in a way, constant energy, totally recuperated and loves her new enclosure!


Pokey is back from the vet's, he lived with them for about a month...now you can imagine if your dog or cat stayed at the vets for that long, you would have a huge bill, well, we considered this a huge bill, but compared to the states, this is not costly at all. $120.00 for all his treatment, and as you can see he is doing so much better after his horrible infection from some animal attacking him. He is finally getting new quills and fur, but will probably have a bald backside :( We hope Quilla our beautiful girl will fall in love with him anyway. Pokey still needs medical treatment, so please consider adopting him!



Adopt an endangered Scarlet Macaw! Our macaws are at breeding age, and we are going to set them up for breeding for release. Young macaws will be placed with other release programs in the country. So, if you are a bird person, please help us support the 30 some parrots in our care! The seed mix and nuts that we feed, (along with fruits and vegetables) are imported, and anything imported is extremely expensive, We use a 23 kilo sack, around 50lbs per week, and this costs around $48, add in the nuts and we are up to $60.




300 pounds of Papaya per week, 20lbs of green beans and 25 lbs of carrots!


Farmers market fund! We can easily spend $150 per week on fresh fruits and vegetables for all the birds and animals.


Overwhelmed? I am, whew! I include all these figures so that folks have an understanding of what is involved in the day to day life at the Toucan Rescue Ranch. It's a constant influx of animals, food, bills, medicines, vet checks, operations, love and endless sleepless nights.

Please help us to keep up the momentum, continue to be able to rescue and care for Costa Rican wildlife, begin our breeding programs, continue our educational programs in the local schools and, I will end with a quote from a recent visitor, "I have been to other rescue centers around the world and this is one of the best. Their care for the animals is exquisite, the animals have space, enrichment and the place is sparkling clean."

Donations can be made to Pay Pal on our website, then please send us an e-mail to let us know who you would like to adopt, or what program your donation is helping.

Thank you from all of us, Leslie, Jorge and all the birds and animals of the Toucan Rescue Ranch and may you have a wonderful holiday season filled with joy and a great New Year.


Friday, December 9, 2011

Sloth-Squirrel-Farm Update!






Our good friend Karen made Christmas sloth blankets for all the sloths!! As you can see they love them...Thanks Karen!

Little Twili had a vet check up yesterday and she is doing great! Growing ever soooooo sloooowly...which is good for a sloth.

Farm Update!






We visited the farm last week with our good friend Jerry Jennings and a professional photographer friend of his Paul...I was nervous that the animals and birds might be hiding, but we were very lucky! I wanted them to see toucans and they appeared at the feeders in front of the house! Jerry is a world famous Toucan Breeder and conservation enthusiast, check out his website for all the toucan infomation you will ever need! http://www.emeraldforestgardens.com/



Then we had this very close encounter with a friendly three toed sloth.






Here at the main house we have been having several new hummingbirds arrive! Here is the beautiful Purple throated mountain gem!



The Whistling Ducks have discovered the mirror in our display case on the porch and every morning they are on the here greeting the ducks in the mirror :) and making a mess of the porch!











LuLu the squirrel has been out on her own for about a month, everyday she comes to visit and she has made a huge nest in the tree by the house...she seems to be doing fine and there are several squirrels around that she can get to know. Here is Jerry Jennings visiting with LuLu and Jorge as well.



Our coffee is drying and will be going to the local roaster soon!



The new guest house is almost done! The windows are in, tiles all done, they are working on the intricate bamboo ceiling and it is really beautiful, I keep joking that I am actually moving out to the guest house to get some rest!




Next blog will be soon with Christmas ideas! Please give the gift of life and hope to our rescued animals...photos, ornaments and ideas for adoption in the next segment! Donations are kindly accepted via Paypal on our blog.


Thank you from the animals!!